Why you can’t beat buying fresh produce in a proper food market

Ella Walker meets food writer Ed Smith, author of a new cookbook devoted to the work of London’s Borough Market, where people have sold food and spun yarns since the 12th century.

BOROUGH Market is arguably the most famous food market in Britain. It sits in the belly of London Bridge, a network of railway arches and overhangs, full of winding pathways, with narrow roads to cross – hopefully without being squashed by delivery vans and crates of cheese – and the smell of baking bread and spices in the air.

Yes, it’s the oldest market in London – people have sold produce in one form or another at Borough Market since the 12th century – but in a sense it is representative of any market you’d find in any town: there is food, lots of it, and the producers really know their stuff.

Most recently, Borough has been in the news less for its multicoloured cauliflowers and artisan coffee, and more because of a terror attack on the area in June 3 2017. A vehicle-ramming on London Bridge and a series of stabbings in nearby bars and restaurants in Borough, saw eight people killed, and almost 50 injured.

But food writer Ed Smith, author of the new Borough Market cookbook, a celebration of the producers, stallholders and soul of the market, is clear that, more than a year on, it’s business as usual.